KasCo® Kavel A Utrecht

KasCo® – flexibel & ecological living in a greenhouse

Living in a greenhouse (‘kas’ in Dutch) is a concept that has been around for almost 100 years. The glass façade of the ‘kas’ fits around the interior like a jacket. You choose if you want the zipper closed, half way down or completely open. Nine months each year the temperature in the space between the ‘kas’ and the interior house is above 18 degrees Celsius. This turns the balconies into usable interior space by opening the balcony doors increasing the floor space up to double its seize. The moderate, almost mediterranean climate makes is perfect for growing all kinds of plants turning this into an actual green house!

The waterproof and wind-tight glass skin creates a lot of freedom to design the floor plans. The light and spacious concept also allows for a house that grows or shrinks within the greenhouse during its life span. Extensive research shows that the ‘kas’ significantly lowers the energy consumption of the house. Building the interior, an insulated timber frame house, without the ‘kas’ means an increase of 56% on energy consumption. The rapport of our research funded by SEV (Dutch Ministry of Internal Affairs) can be found here.

We are convinced that the traditional way of building that fills most of the Dutch urban landscape is outdated. A shift to custom tailored and future proof residents is happening. KasCo® adapts to this change with its flexibel building system and using solar heat to lower energy use resulting in a sustainable and ecologic concept.

KasCo® Utrecht

cc-studio is currently developing 14 KasCo® houses in Utrecht. In contrary to standard development, the 14 individual client take upon themselves the role as developer in order to achieve an optimal balance between design freedom and being part of a cooperative housing community. This type of organization is called ‘CPO’ (collectief particulier opdrachtgeverschap) in Dutch. The CPO is called ‘Het Kashuis’ and his its own website that reports on the projects ins-and-outs as well as news updates.

The project consist of 4 types of KasCo® houses of different seize and dimension ranging from a 150m2 four story L type to a 80m2 3 story M3 type. The houses are clustered in 3 blocks creating a slightly raised green and open courtyard in the middle with a car park underneath. The construction of the KasCo® houses consist of a wooden exoskeleton that allows for maximum flexibility in designing a floor plan. Each of the 14 houses therefor has a unique spacial quality and organization with voids and terraces in different places. The wooden skeleton serves as both the construction of the interior house as the greenhouse. Each house has its own fully private space within the greenhouse with sliding doors and operable roof lights in different places.

KasCo® Utrecht is expected to be completed in 2016/2017.
KasCo® has its own website with all the in-and-outs on what living in a greenhouse is all about. You can also check the website to see the developments of KasCo® Amsterdam North and KasCo® Utrecht.